INCREASED TRADE

Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20284, 28 August 1937, Page 9

INCREASED TRADE

DOMINION’S VITAL NEED LOOtINQ INTO THE FUTURE PROFESSOR RODWELL’S VIEWS That the extent to whi’ch farmers were penalised under the New Zealand tariff policy was exaggerated was expressed by Professor H. R. Rodwell, Dean of the Faculty of Commerce at the Auckland University College, speaking on the New Zealand trade policy at a meeting held under the auspices of the New Zealand Institute of Secretaries In Hamilton last evening. Mr D. L. Bone, of the Auckland branch of the institute, presided. The speaker said that when the principal of free entry of essential raw materials and equipment required by producers came into conflict with that of protection to local Industries, a tariff had often been imposed, thus raising ’costs to farmers particularly. They could not effectively be protected by tariffs, since they were very large exporters. When about 38 per cent of all farm requisites were free from customs duties and an additional 30 per cent, were free if of British origin, it could not be 6ald that the penalty was very great. Protection Not High Protection In New Zealand, said Professor Rodwell, was not as high as that in most countries. About half the total imports entering the Dominion were free of duty. Figures showed that New Zealand accorded the United Kingdom by far the most liberal treatment of the Dominions, so far as tariff was concerned, having a level of 8.5 per cent. New Zealand's place In the world as an importer of British goods was about the highest. They amounted to 50 per cent, of her total Imports. The Dominion had failed to develop alternative markets to the extent that had other parts of the Empire. Since the Great War, her Empire trade had continually Increased and her export trade with those countries amounted to 82 per cent. The idea of quantitive regulation of supplies of butter with the object of stabilising prices and at the same time making every effort to increase consumption, apparently had been abandoned by the British Government in favour of a milk scheme based on subsidies and guaranteed prices. That scheme had not proved a success, said Professor Rodwell. Mr W. S. Morrison, the British Minister of Agriculture, repudiated the policy of selfsufficiency In foodstuffs on the grounds that It would be too costly. The Empire could never be self-suffi-cient, he said, as her resources and her requirements did not coincide. It cotild not produce everything. Less than half the meat required for consumption was produced within its borders, while it could not export all the wool demanded by other nations. It was a dangerous tendency to rely upon the Empire. Population Declining “ The rate of population growth is rapidly slowing down,” said the speaker. It had been estimated that by the middle of the 1940’s the population of the United Kingdom would begin to decline. It would then be necessary for New Zealand to find new markets for her Increasing produce. The population of England, he said, would fall by about 10,000,000 at the end of this century, while that of most Western countries and New Zealand, would decrease likewise. This had been estimated by a close study of pre-sent-day conditions. The Dominion must And those new markets at once, or not And them at all. “ There is a feeling in New Zealand that it is impossible to develop new markets, but there is little justification for the attitude,” said Professor Rodwell. “ Other Empire countries are exporting freely to fresh countries. I don't want to be termed unpatriotic, but England looks upon New Zealand as a foreign people. Trade with them Is a question of business not sentimentality. To New Zealand it Is a question of live or die,” he continued. Developing Trade. “ Every effort should be made to develop trade in other countries, for New Zealand Is at the ends of the earth and very little Is known about it,” remarked the speaker. Attempts were now being made to encourage that system, and it was hoped that trade with Russia would be extended on a reciprocal basis to the advantage of both countries. There was a tendency to forget that New Zealand’s prosperity was bound up with that jf other countries, who were trying to reverse the process of building up trade barriers. The policy for New Zealand to adopt was to co-operate to the fullest extent to free international trade from the fetters that had -o long bound it, said Professor Rodwell in conclusion.